Description

We are searching for a post-doctoral scientist to work on a project entitled “Midfrontal cortex theta oscillations: causes and consequences.” This project is hosted by the Radboud University Medical Center, Cognitive Neuroscience department, and is supported by an ERC-Starting grant. The researcher will work in the group of Dr. Michael X Cohen, and will have the opportunity to collaborate with other researchers at the Radboud/Donders community. The position is for up to 40 months, and should begin in January 2017.

Theta-band oscillations (~6 Hz) in the medial prefrontal cortex are a signature of several important cognitive functions, including behavior monitoring, action adjustments, and feedback-driven learning. Although this consistent finding has emerged in several species including humans, monkeys, and rats, little is known about the microcircuits in the medial prefrontal cortex that generate theta oscillations, and what role those oscillations have in the neural computations underlying cognitive control functions. In this project, we aim to gain more insight into these processes by using optogenetics in combination with large-scale electrophysiology in mice. A major focus will be on determining cell-type-specific contributions to frontal theta oscillations, synchronization across cortical areas, and multiscale relationships across neurons, LFP, and EEG. There will also be opportunities to combine these experiments with in-vivo calcium imaging. The Cohen lab currently has several postdocs and PhD students, and a full-time technician. Research methods span humans (EEG), rodents (single-unit, LFP, EEG), computational modeling, and development of time-frequency and multivariate data analysis methods.